MMA Notes 2-13-08

TFK · Feb 14, 2008

Stolen from various sites...

World Victory Road on Wednesday announced that it has added three more bouts to its debut event, Sengoku, which is scheduled for March 5 in Tokyo.

Pride lightweight champion and MMAWeekly.com No. 1 ranked Takanori Gomi will face off with Ultimate Fighting Championship and K-1 veteran Duane â€œBangâ€ Ludwig in a lightweight bout. Gomi hasnâ€™t fought since his no-contest with Nick Diaz at Pride 33, which will be a little over a year since last competed come fight time. Ludwig was slated to fight at the upcoming Strikeforce event in Tacoma, Wash. against Steve Berger on Feb. 23, but sources indicate that he will forego that bout.

Bodog Fight welterweight champion Nick Thompson will face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Fabricio Monteiro on March 5. Thompson won via submission over John Troyer at BodogFight: Thompson vs. Troyer. Monteiro comes off a stoppage loss to Mohamed Khacha at Fury FC 5.
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All the UFC 81 fighters who underwent drug tests administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission have passed their tests, according to the NSAC.

Executive director Keith Kizer today released the results to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

UFC 81 took place Feb. 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view event featured Antonio Rodrigo Nogueiraâ€™s third-round submission of Tim Sylvia to win the UFCâ€™s interim heavyweight title, and Frank Mir spoiled Brock Lesnarâ€™s UFC debut with a first-round submission.

All four fighters were tested for drugs of abuse (such as marijuana and cocaine), as well as anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancers.
Other UFC 81 fighters who were tested include Ricardo Almeida, Tim Boetsch, Marvin Eastman, Rob Emerson, Tyson Griffin, Jeremy Horn, Chris Lytle and Nate Marquardt.

As standard practice, the NSAC randomly choses fighters for the tests, though all main-event and championship-bout participants are usually tested. Fighters who failed previous tests are also more likely to be tested.

For more information about the NSACâ€™s testing procedures, including a new system for year-round testing, check out MMAjunkie.comâ€™s recent Keith Kizer interview.

Additionally, for complete coverage of this event, including fighters salaries and the list of winners for fight-night bonuses, be sure to check out MMAjunkie.comâ€™s UFC 81 archives.
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Tim Boetsch (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), a UFC newcomer who stepped in â€” and dominated â€” as a late replacement for an injured Tomasz Drwal at UFC 81, has again answered the call as a substitute fighter.

Boetsch will replace Stephan Bonnar, who was scratched from a UFC Fight Night 13 event due to a knee injury earlier this week, and will fight Matt Hamill at the April 2 event, according to a report from MMAWeekly.com.
UFC Fight Night 13 takes place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo. The event, broadcast by Spike TV, is headlined by a lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon.

The Pennsylvania-based Boetsch, who recently turned 28, took on David Heath earlier this month at UFC 81 and picked apart the veteran with a series of front, body and leg kicks to set up a first-round TKO. The Extreme Challenge and International Fight League vet narrowly missed out on a $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for the performance.

In a recent MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) interview, Boetsch said he hadnâ€™t been assured heâ€™d be brought back to the UFC, but he was optimistic.

â€œJust from the response from the fans and everybody that saw (UFC 81), I think theyâ€™re going to have a hard time not bringing me back,â€ Boetsch said. â€œSo Iâ€™m looking forward to getting back in there for them, hopefully in the near future, and putting on another good show.â€œ

Itâ€™ll come sooner than he thought.

Heâ€™ll now take on Hamill, a cast member from â€œThe Ultimate Fighter 3â€ who was knocked out of the competition due to injury. Hamill hasnâ€™t competed since UFC 75, when he lost a controversial split decision to Michael Bisping. Hamill had minor knee surgery after the fight but resumed training by December.

With the loss of Bonnar, the Boetsch-Hamill fight isnâ€™t guaranteed to stay on the televised main card; after all, the event is perhaps the most talent-rich fight card in Spike TV history.
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Chris Leben (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC), a cast member on "The Ultimate Fighter 1" and a current UFC middleweight fighter, has signed a two-year contract extension with the UFC.

Leben confirmed the extension with UFC.com and in an interview with his MySpace fan club. The 27-year-old fighter had been fighting under a previous deal structure used for most of the cast members who appeared on "The Ultimate Fighter," the UFC and Spike TV's reality series.

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MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed that the new deal will pay him $25,000 "to show" and $25,000 as a "win bonus" for each fight of the new deal. (The figures were first revealed in his MySpace interview.) Leben had been making just $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win since his official UFC debut in April 2005.

Back in May, Leben, a former Team Quest fighter who now lives and trains (and teaches) in Hawaii at ICON Fitness, hinted that he might leave the UFC when his contract with the organization expired. He specifically mentioned Hawaii's ICON Sport as a promotion that would pay him a fair salary.

Leben began his career with five straight victories. However, when he made those comments about a possible departure, he had lost three of his past four fights, and his stock in the UFC had never been lower. Leben, though, bounced back for a stunning third-round knockout of Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11 back in September.

Love or hate him (and most fans do), Leben remains a strong draw for the organization. In fact, the UFC used Leben in the first six UFC Fight Night events, largely because he had such a big following with the Spike TV crowd that saw him on the reality series, where he was one of the season's more controversial (and emotional) cast members.

Leben will next fight Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 on March 1. The event takes place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The Leben vs. Sakara fight will be televised.
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TFK

TFK · Feb 14, 2008

The UFC has offered Jardine a fight with Wanderlei Silva. Jardine has accepted and now the UFC is awaiting an answer from Silva, who is in Brazil. Expect that fight to happen on the May card in Las Vegas.
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Rumored cast for TUF 7

Paul Bradley (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Matt Brown (7-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Steve Byrnes (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)

Timothy Credeur (9-2 MMA, 0-0UFC)

C.B. Dollaway (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Mike Marrello (6-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Prince Mclean (4-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC)<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O></O>

Aaron Meisner (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Reggie Orr (4-5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Jeremiah Riggs (1-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

David Roberts (5-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC)

Amir Sadollah (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)<O></O>

Brandon Sene (2-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Dan Simmler (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Jesse Taylor (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) <O></O>

Luke Zachrich (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

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â€œThe Ultimate Fighter 6â€ cast members George Sotiropoulos (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Roman Mitichyan (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet April 2 at UFC Fight Night 13.

The fight was revealed overnight on UFC.com.

UFC Fight Night 13 takes place at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo. The event, broadcast by Spike TV, is headlined by a lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon.

Sotiropoulos, a semifinalist on the show, earned victories Jared Rollins and Richie Hightower before he was stopped by eventual show runner-up Tommy Speer in the showâ€™s semifinals. The 30-year-old then returned at the showâ€™s live finale and defeated Billy Miles with a first-round submission. The Australian is now training with UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra, who served as his coach on â€œThe Ultimate Fighter.â€œ

Mitichyan was also a cast member on the show, though his stint would be a short one. The Armenia showed up in Las Vegas with a pre-existing elbow injury. After an X-ray revealed that it was a broken bone, he was sent home and replaced by John Koppenhaver. However, the UFC invited him to compete at the showâ€™s live finale, where he scored a stunning, 23-second submission (via achilles lock) of Dorian Price.

Given the depth of the eventâ€™s card, the Sotiropoulos-Mitichyan fight has been relegated to the nightâ€™s un-televised preliminary card.
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TFK

TFK · Feb 14, 2008

During Wednesdayâ€™s star-studded event that featured a total of three title fights, the World Extreme Cagefighting organization announced that two more championship bouts will take place during its next show.

The event, WEC 33, will feature WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filhoâ€™s (16-0) rematch with Chael Sonnen (19-9-1), and WEC light heavyweight champ Doug Marshall (7-2) will take on Brian Stann (5-0).

The event will take place March 26 â€” most likely at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (though the date hasnâ€™t yet been confirmed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission). WEC 33 will air live on the VERSUS network.

Filho, one of the worldâ€™s top-ranked 185-lb. fighters, earned a WEC contract last year after a hugely successful career in PRIDE. He made his WEC debut in August 2007 and scored a first-round TKO of Joe Doerksen to claim the organizationâ€™s vacant middleweight title.

However, his first title defense would be a controversial one. Matched up with two-time NCAA national wrestling champion Sonnen, Filho would struggle to keep up as his opponent got the better of the stand-up and the ground battle. However, after getting caught in an armbar in the second round, Sonnen screamed in pain. That prompted the referee to stop the fight â€” a decision Sonnen would later protest.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported last month, undefeated prospect Nissen Osterneck (5-0) had been offered a fight with Sonnen, but the WEC opted to book the rematch with Filho instead. (Osterneck did, in fact, sign with the WEC and will now fight Bryan Baker, who owns a 6-0 mark, at the March 26 event.)

Also on the docket for the event is the Marshall-Stann fight. Marshall will go for this third successful title defense since taking the title from Lodune Sincaid in May 2006. Marshall has fought his entire five-year career with the WEC.

Heâ€™ll take on fellow WEC vet Stann, a hard-hitting 27-year-old whoâ€™s posted all five of his career victories with first-round knockouts. Stann most recently stopped Jeremiah Billington, who entered the bout with a 10-1 record, during Septemberâ€™s WEC 30 event.
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â€œThe Ultimate Fighter 7,â€ which debuts April 2 on Spike TV, features UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and season-one winner Forrest Griffin as coaches. Unlike past seasons, the show will feature 32 â€” not 16 â€” middleweight fighters vying for a UFC contract. As MMAjunkie.com exclusively reported, every potential cast member will have to fight as soon as the show begins. The 16 winners earn a spot in the house, and the 16 losers are knocked out of the competition.
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The UFC has released its televised card for UFC Fight Night 13, a Spike TV event that takes place April 2 at the Broomfield Event Center near Denver, Colo.

The 10-fight event, headlined by a lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Lauzon, is arguably the deepest and most talent-rich fight card in Spike TV and Fight Night history.

As of now, the broadcast is set for two hours. However, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently spoke to a Spike TV representative who said the cable station is considering making it a three-hour broadcast to squeeze in an extra fight or two. Currently, only four fights are guaranteed TV time. However, a number of websites â€” with FightLinker.com leading the charge â€” have bombarded Spike TV with email requests for an additional hour of broadcast time.

Time will tell if it works.

The official card for the event â€” for now â€” includes:
MAIN CARD

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon

Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan

Tim Boetsch* vs. Matt Hamill

Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin

PRELIMINARY CARD

Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard

Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher

Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas

Clay Guida vs. Samy Schiavo

Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos

Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer

* â€” Boetsch, a replacement for injured Stephan Bonnar, has not yet been confirmed by the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 13 will serve as a lead-in for â€œThe Ultimate Fighter 7,â€ the latest installment of the UFC and Spike TVâ€™s hit reality series. The seventh season of the show, which will feature 32 middleweight hopefuls, includes UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and the original winner of â€œThe Ultimate Fighter,â€ Forrest Griffin, as coaches.
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Hopefully Spike gives them the extra hour. It would be criminal if Frankie Edgar's fight isn't televised live. I'd also like to see if Tommy Speer has improved since his loss to Danzig.

TFK

ArturoGatti · Feb 14, 2008

I like that Josh Neer/Din Thomas fight. Should be fireworks.

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MMA Notes 2-13-08

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MMA Notes 2-13-08

TFK WBC Silver Diamond Emeritus Champ

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